nunheadmum

Has anyone ever moved their little one from a cot straight to a double bed? Am I just being mad even to think of the concept?? Have tried no2 in same room as no1 but it just hasn't worked as no2 not sleeping well. She's back in the back room which is now acting, at the same time, as her room / spare room / husband's office. It just about works with the cot but definitely won't work when she moves out the cot. As a double bed is best for when grandparents stay (not often but they travel from afar), the thought did come to me as to whether we could move her into the double bed - rather than a toddler or single bed - and then have her on a temporary bed in our room or no1's room when visitors come. But a 2-3year old in a double bed seems a bit excessive and not sure if she'd react to the change in amount of space. She does nap on the floor at nursery and took naps in a variety of places at the childminders so she's used to being out of the confines of the cot. Just wondered if anyone else had ever tried it? Thanks!

I did give my details to one of the Southwark women associated with the One O'Clock club at the meeting in November (I think it was) as I work in a charity and I'm familiar with fundraising but she never got back to me. I should probably chat to the women in the club directly - I guess their interest will be a little more acute!

The Royal Festival Hall and Southbank get my vote week after week. We get takeaway coffee and yummy croissants/pastries from the posh pattisserie and eat in the RFH while the kids run themselves into the ground. My eldest (3.75yrs) loves going up the different levels to explore and search for monsters and the youngest (19 months) always finds something to take her fancy. Not to mention when there are free events on in the ballroom or outside and all the stuff outside when the weather is decent. I like it as the kids tend to dictate what we do and we don't have to keep thinking what to do next. Only problem is telling them it's time to go home!

This thread has got me thinking that I need to do something about my LO. I'm more worried now by the comments of kids starting at 3 - I'm worried my youngest will start copying big sister! Can anyone recommend any of the storybooks on the topic? I thought this may be a good way to start the process but I don't want to waste money on books that don't quite hit the mark....which is what I usually end up doing. She's a typical little girl so (unfortunately) one about a pink, thumb sucking, ballet dancing fairy would probably go down well!

My LO loves to suck her thumb too. Nursery have done a good job with her and she doesn't touch it when she's there, other than at nap time. But as soon as we turn up, in it goes if she's in the least bit unhappy. If we keep nagging her then she will keep it out during the day but it's clear that it's almost an unconscious thing. And at night, you can tell she's sleeping lightly as the thumb sucking gets louder. Glad to have heard about the thumb guard tho as I think we're going to have to go down that route. Though may try some books first to see if she can give it up herself. That seems a little gentler!

I have heard of the playgroup at St Thooma More but don't go to that parish any more so don't know if it's still on. Could try calling the parish and asking as it is run by them, I believe. (It was always in the parish bulletin.)

I did have a look at St Frances Cabrini but I wasn't so impressed by it. I am trying to speak to some parents of kids who go there to see if I just got the wrong impression on the day. But I thought Ivydale came across as much better. I'm just trying to find 3 other schools that I would want my LO to go to.

Thanks for the comments. Sorry to have sparked off the parking debate again. It is the one aspect that would put me off - I'd rather not have to drive my kids to school but it probably would be too far for a young one to walk, at least initially. Ah well, I'm sure the allocations system will probably sort that problem for me!

Does anyone know if the schools (or whoever allocates the places - not sure if it's the school or the council) actually receive info about what position you put the school down as i.e. whether they're your first or fourth choice? It would seem to make sense if they did but I thought I'd heard somewhere that they didn't - but I've also heard inferences of the opposite. Don't know about everyone else but I'm finding the whole process exhausting. I'm hoping we stand a good chance of getting into our first choice in Southwark which is clearly the best option for us but having to do the legwork to find another 3 options and 4 more in Lewisham just in case the world goes mad and we don't get into no1!! But can't not do it, just in case...!

We've been told that St Anthony's only have a September intake. Does anyone know if this is the case? I thought all schools in Southwark had September and January intakes? Also anyone know how big the catchment is if you are Catholic and get the necessary forms signed? Does it stretch across to Nunhead or am I being totally unrealistic?

My 3 yr old was driving me mad, she kept telling me off for calling my youngest Isla (a friend's daughters name) rather than Ella when I knew fine well I'd said the right name. (It wouldn't have been impossible as the grey matter is crumbling but after two or three times I was being careful!) It finally came to me that it's obviously my Scottish accent that she's struggling with. Not sure why as she's heard it from birth.

Got my eldest (3) done just after Christmas and was told that they've decided to give only 1 jab now for the kids - not 2 doses as they were doing. She was fine with it - just put out that she couldn't go to nursery and show off her plaster!

Hi emc. We haven't got as far as filling the form in yet but we are intending to do one for Southwark and one for Lewisham, so if there is a knack to doing it, it'd be great if you could let us know what it is. Otherwise I can see an evening of computer enraged husband coming on!!!

Hi Sususudio. I don't know the name of the consultant off hand as we didn't really have any interaction with him other than his presence at the test. I'll see if I can find the paperwork from the test and post the name if it gives it.

My understanding at Kings was that with CVS the risk is almost totally related to the experience of the person performing the test. Ours was done under the very close supervision of the consultant. We didn't do it with no1 but with no2 we thought that, as older parents, if we had a Downs child, as we got older a lot of the responsibility for their care would fall to the older sibling who would still be relatively young themselves. It seemed just a bit unfair to risk that for someone who had no say in it. Thankfully we didn't have that decision to make in the end as we were given the all clear after the test. If you do take the test - make sure the results are included in your notes. Ours weren't and after discharging us one of the midwifes noted that she thought our baby had 'some Downs features' and we had to go through another blood test to confirm that all was well. Although we knew all was ok, it wasn't nice to have the doubts raised again just as you should have been celebrating!

For the past 2 weeks or so my 18 month old is waking most nights and spending about 2 hours drifting in and out of sleep and bouncing - either standing or sitting or just lying down, but really energetically. Most nights she gets back off after about 2 hours - sometimes with a cry and some milk or sometimes just on her own. Has anyone else experienced this? She was unwell at the start of the period - hence I could understand her waking - but she's fine now. I don't know if it's just a developmental thing - she's just starting to run and tries to jump. I can't remember anything like this with my eldest but she was much less active than No2.

I had the jab a couple of weeks ago and felt much worse with it than the usual flu jabs and my arm was sore for days, which I usually don't get. I think that's putting me off getting it for the kids....I'm wary of days of treating the symptoms being as bad as the flu itself. Not to mention the thoughts of have they already had it, haven't their bodies got enough vaccinations to deal with etc. (Still got to get my little one the MMR - I just remember by eldest taking weeks to get over that one). That said, the rates for complications amongst young kids do seem higher and if they did get it and something went wrong, I'd probably never forgive myself for not giving the jab simply as I thought it may make my life easier. So we have in the end made an appointment for them...between Xmas and New Year when others are around to share the misery if they do react badly!

One other possibility is hand, foot and mouth which is ulcers in the mouth and also possibly on the fingers and toes. It's worth checking his hands and feet as I'm not sure GP's always pick up on it - my GP didn't with me. As it's viral, I'm not sure they can do much but let it run it's course. I hope it is something more straight forward like just an ulcer or thrush which is probably easier to treat.

Didn't know that. Thanks! Makes much more sense. I'll read more recent reports in a better light!

My second was a grunter too. I think we just accepted it and gradually it passed - but her sleeping generally got worse so possibly the grunting just stopped being noticed. I've used Katie Sedgewick in ED for reflexology and I know she does cranial osteopathy for babies too - she tried it on mine but she was too wriggly and there didn't seem to be much up with her. If you search on here or google her, you'll get her details. Also the London School of Osteopathy does osteopathy for babies at pretty reasonable rates.

I think it's worth remembering too that the schools have lots of time to prepare for Ofsted visits - so do they really reflect the day-to-day reality when an inspector isn't on your back. My childminder has an outstanding Ofsted report but I saw the added preparations that she made - and how they've faded away since the visit and some less perfect practices have taken over! I would echo the need to visit the schools and ask lots of questions. (It may be worth checking in advance whether you get shown around by the head / a teacher or by pupils - I've been thrown by that one in a couple of schools.) Also think of what aspects are most important for your child. Academic achievement isn't all that gets you ahead in life or makes for a happy person.

Do you have recent experience of the school Tallgirl? It's one I'm considering but I've heard mixed reviews - in particular related to more recent changes. I'm going to see round the school but any other opinions of what it's like currently would be gratefully received.

I don't have any failsafe methods I'm afraid but I would say, if you're trying to get your LO onto a bottle and they are refusing, keep trying. I tried just about every bottle under the sun with my second daughter and it must have taken a month or more of trying at every daytime feed (started off with nighttime ones too but was too stressful) before she finally took a bottle - and she finally went for the Avent bottles that we had left over from daughter No1 and had tried at the start. Once she started, she never looked back! I think some kids just have a strong will and will do it when they're ready or realise that your will is just as strong as theirs!

We used Night Nannies when my second one was 4 months old as she was waking every couple of hours and I was exhausted. (1st one hadn't slept through till at least 18 months and couldn't face that again!) Well worth the cost, I thought. They have a few nannies who specialise in this. She talked things through with us before committing to anything, to make sure we had an approach we both felt happy with. For us it did involve letting my LO cry a bit but she went from waking (at best!) every couple of hours to going through the night within 3 nights. As we half thought, the problem was us as much as her! As much as sorting her sleep, it was worth it for helping us to have faith in our instincts. Which is really helpful since they go through so many different phases as they grow that, if you're not careful, you can easily re-create problems later by over-reacting. Hope you find a solution that works for you.

I was at the meeting last Weds but got an email from the Parks guy saying that the one this week was being postponed until the drawings were available - probably 3-4 weeks. Not sure if that only related to the 1 O'clock element of the meeting as that was the bit I attended.